Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Delayed

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, the spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night funded on Kickstarter, has been delayed.

In an update for backers, creator Koji Igarashi said the development team is now aiming for the "first half of 2018." Bloodstained was previously planned to launch in 2017 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One,PlayStation Vita, PC, and Wii U.

"Things have been progressing with development for Bloodstained," he said. "But between our current production setup and release deadline I've realized that at this rate the game may not end up meeting my quality standards.

Igarashi went on to say a second development tea has been added to the project.

"I've decided to add a new development team to the main production and improve our approach so that we can keep the game fully on track for how I envision it," he explained. "We're in the process of securing these new developers. We will share more information with all of you soon."

He added: "I apologize for the wait. However, I'd like to emphasize that I made this decision to absolutely guarantee the game is done right the first time ... The last thing I want to do is keep our backers waiting, but after receiving such incredible support, I feel responsible for delivering the best product I possibly can. Again, I offer my sincerest apologies."

In June, a demo for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was made available to those that pledged $60 or above to the Kickstarter campaign and filled out a survey. The demo will was playable for "approximately three months."

Although Deep Silver is publishing Bloodstained, the game's development was partially crowdfunded. Pledges for Bloodstained passed $3.5 million, securing a PlayStation Vita release for the game.